For What Purpose? Mission and Ministry in Stewardship 1
Opening Prayer 2
Book of Common Prayer Collect O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery, by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; Let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity or the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. The Book of Common Prayer, p. 280 3
What we’ll talk about today I. The “Why” of Stewardship II. What Stewardship Is (and isn’t) III. Mission budgeting IV. Time Talent and Treasure V. Year Round Stewardship 4
I. The Why of Stewardship 5
Sinek, Simon, Start with Why; Portfolio, 2011 6
Stewardship ≠ Pledge Campaign The Pledge Campaign is the What, not the Why 7
Stewardship is… Mission 8
My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I can, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.” ( former President Jimmy Carter ) Following Christ is not an either-or proposition “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” ( Luke 12:34 ) 9
“The goal of our stewardship ministry is to help God’s people grow in their relationship with Jesus through the use of the time, talents and finances that God has entrusted to us.” - Ask, Thank, Tell , Charles R. Lane 10
Mission is the only thing In the church, mission isn’t everything, it is the only thing! God’s mission (ideally) drives every aspect of church life. God’s mission determines when we say “yes” to certain opportunities, and also when we say “no.” A clear vision of God’s mission is the heartbeat of a congregation’s movement as a community. And as we enter “stewardship season,” that vision plays a vital role in communication and helps answer the “why should I give” questions that many folks have. 11
II. Mission budgeting 12
Connect to Mission One way to help people connect the offering plate to the vision and mission (and ministry) of the parish is a narrative budget. A narrative budget helps ministry leaders connect the dots between God’s mission and the financial resources required, and hopefully makes that connection clear to parishioners. Are we resourcing a vision or merely just funding a budget? 13
Narrative Budget Never show the line-item detailed budget (yes, you still need one - but it is not part of your Stewardship messaging). Always show a Narrative Budget that highlights your investment in your ministries A Narrative Budget ● Links money to mission and ministry ● Step by step exercise ● Useful beyond Stewardship season 14
Steps to a Narrative Budget Start with your existing line-item ● budget Identify 4 - 6 ministries ● Allocate expenses to those ● ministries Prepare a chart and an explanation ● of investment in ministries Create a pew card - find other ways ● to share! 15
A Narrative Budget shows where each dollar of your offering goes... 16
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Vision? What would you do with the funds if more money were to be pledged next year? Would it be a great vision? Would Jesus be thrilled with your vision? Would it inspire additional giving/investment in mission? 18
Wow Card 19
Table time 20
III. Time, talent and treasure 21
“&” 22
Proportional Giving Giving proportionally means offering a percentage of your income A chart can be helpful Take the amount that you pledged last year and divide it by 52 to get your weekly giving. Where does that fall on the percentages on the right of your income? Consider making a step up to the next level of giving. 23
IV. Year-round Stewardship 24
December - Advent January - Epiphany Write personal thank you notes to all the Celebrate Music Ministry. Consider the simple children’s ministry staff and volunteers in the act of praising the choir and musicians during congregation. Sunday service. Interview 2 or 3 musicians and tell their stories. Consider an Alternative Gift Market - Episcopal Relief and Development, Heifer Bring dinner to an evening choir rehearsal! February - Epiphany March - Lent Stewardship of all creation. Congregation-wide recycling program. Lent is a time of reflection and taking inventory. Schedule “Report from the Convention,” so Parishioners may be dealing with parents’ end of life issues, and programming could include an parish delegates can report on diocesan ministry evening discussion on questions related to as a whole. Encourage others in parish to hospice care, living wills. consider volunteering at diocesan level. 25
April - Easter May - Easter Easter is a wonderful time to honor the Altar Children and Money. The earlier the better when Guild. The church could publicly thank Altar it comes to reaching our children the value of Guild members in the Easter Bulletin; or sponsor money, the benefits of saving and the joy of a special meal for Altar Guild members. giving. Schedule a festive coffee Hour for Mother’s Day The period leading up to Easter can also be a in celebration of moms, both living and time to host planned giving discussions. departed. June - Pentecost July - Pentecost Host a Celebration of fathers, perhaps a breakfast, festive coffee hour. Celebrate Buildings and Grounds and those in the congregation who look out for buildings and their maintenance. Honor those whose fathers have died or are absent for other reasons. 26
August - Ordinary Time September - Ordinary Time Recognize those in your church who are youth Organize a Ministry Fair as a way for leaders, from those in youth group or who serve parishioners to meet and gather information in worship. about the various ministries, committees, and educational opportunities available. As children and parents return to school, host a celebration of teachers. October - Ordinary Time November - Ordinary Time Being thankful goes hand-in-hand with October is Clergy Appreciation Month. How can Thanksgiving Day celebrations. Consider you show appreciation for your clergy? starting traditions focused around giving thanks. One congregation holds a “Thanks-Serving In honor of St. Francis, perhaps organize a drive Day,” small groups who do a day of service in to collect supplies to support a local animal the community. Take time to recognize church staff, including volunteers as well as church shelter; encourage pet adoptions. staff. 27
Thank you Episcopal Diocese of West Texas! Ideas courtesy of the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas. Go to https://www.dwtx.org/departments/stewardship/year-round-stewardship/ for these and many more! 28
Q&A 29
Recommended resources Lane, Charles R. Ask, Thank, Tell, Improving Stewardship Ministry in Your Congregation, Augsburg Books, 2006. LaFond, Charles Fearless Church Fundraising, Morehouse Publishing, 2012 Clif, Christopher, J. Not Your Parents Offering Plate, A New Vision for Financial Stewardship, Abingdon Press, 2015; and Rich Church, Poor Church: Keys to Effective Ministry Cloughen, Jr., Rev. Charles, One Minute Stewardship Sermons Nouwen, Henri, J. M. A Spirituality of Fundraising, Upper Room Books, 2011. Websites: Vestry Papers, Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices ehttp://www.ecfvp.org/vestry-papers TENS, The Episcopal Network of Stewardship www.TENS.org, User name is Mark and password is 10:21 30
Keep the conversation going! ● Join our “CLOSED GROUP” on Facebook. Just search “Stewardship Matters” on Facebook or use this link: ● https://www.facebook.com/groups/397040670803304/ ● We are re-structuring our Stewardship Resources on the diocesan website. Go to www.dioceseofnewark.org/stewardship We will soon be launching a new “Stewardship Matters” Newsletter! ● ● To reach us: Cynthia McChesney cmcchesney@dioceseofnewark.org; Paul Shackford pshackford@gmail.com; Pat Yankus patyankus@gmail.com; David Farrand dcfarrand@aol.com 31
Closing Prayer 32
Stewardship Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, with the great dynamos of your power, you have pulled life from death, freedom from imprisonment, wakefulness from sleep, inaction to action. Help us do the hard word of leadership in stewardship and financial development. Help us to pull a sleepy people weighed down by distraction and greed into a generous wakefulness of gratitude and mission.investment by helping them give their money away. Help us to set free a church too often confined in the coffins of scarcity so that all Saints may work to unfurl the Kingdom of God. Amen. Project Resource, 2001, Charles LaFond 33
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